The Golden Retriever rested its head in Dr. Director's lap and stared up at her imploringly. Dr. Director smiled faintly and scratched it behind the ears. She was sitting in a small shop at a small, round table. At the other side of the table sat a woman dressed in white wearing dark sunglasses that hid her milky white eyes. Her name wasn't Miranda. There were very few who knew her real name and fewer still who had the vocal cords capable of pronouncing it. So to Dr. Director, she was simply Miranda, even though she knew she wasn't.
Miranda shuffled her Tarot deck. She didn't really believe in its use for divination, but if people were willing to pay for it, who was she to argue?
“I understand you have met Kim Possible?” Miranda asked, her voice melodic and pleasant.
“I have,” said Dr. Director simply.
“And?”
“She returned as a vampire,” Dr. Director said. “And she has sired Shego.”
“Hmm,” said Miranda. She took a card from the top of her deck and put it on the table. It was a Three of Cups. “Shego is not a very common name.”
“Neither is Possible,” said Dr. Director. “In truth, I'm not even sure ‘Shego’ is her real name. It was her superhero alias and she kept it once she became a criminal.”
“A criminal?” Miranda asked, casually playing the Tower.
“She used to work for Dr. Drakken, but once Kim Possible died, she lost interest. In everything.”
“I see,” said Miranda, placing the Hermit on the table.
“There's a bond between Kim and Shego that even I could sense. It's powerful, but…” Dr. Director shook her head. “There's something strange about it.”
“Vampiric connections often are.”
“I know they drink each other's blood,” said Dr. Director. “I wonder why.”
“Well, who can understand the vampire mind, hmm?” said Miranda.
“Vampires, I would assume,” said Dr. Director.
Miranda smiled and played an Eight of Pentacles. She stared at it for some time.
“Are they powerful?” she asked.
“Oh yes,” said Dr. Director. “Very powerful.”
Shego stretched herself lazily and then relaxed, enjoying the softness of the bed. This was the life. Or unlife as the case may be.
The sound of rushing water filled her ears and Shego entertained the idea of joining Kim for her usual early evening shower. Of course, if she did that there was a very good chance it would become a late night shower, like it had yesterday. Or really early this morning or whatever.
On the other hand, she probably wasn't in the mood for a good time. Last dawn, before going to bed, she'd told Shego that they really should have another patrol today. Shego had agreed, mostly because, at that point, she was feeling so good she would agree with anything Kim said. So quality bathroom time was probably out of the question. Ah well, she couldn't have it all.
Shego rolled out of bed, landed on her feet and walked out the bedroom, through a couple of handy corridors and into the kitchen. Unlike the soft intimacy of the bedroom, the kitchen was a steel, sterile affair. It was also mostly unused, except for the fridge which Shego now opened. She let her eyes wander over the bloodpacks before deciding on one marked ‘Chicken’.
Biting into it, Shego sauntered into what was now the living room. She froze in the door opening, almost dropping the pack onto the floor. Then she got a grip on herself, walked further into the room and took place on the couch.
“Now then, where to put this,” Drakken said to himself as he produced something sleek and vaguely gun-like from one of his bags.
It was weird, the way humans never saw them. Here she was, sitting stark naked on a couch, drinking chicken blood from a plastic bag and Drakken just kept on unpacking his stuff.
“Hmm,” said Dr. Drakken. “I think this little doohickey would fit nicely on the television.” He blinked. “Wait a minute, since when do I have a television here?”
Shego rolled her eyes. Of all the lairs in all the world, he had to walk into… well, one of his, actually.
“Hey Dr. D.”
Drakken turned around sharply. “Shego? What are you doing here?”
“Gee, thanks for the warm welcome.”
“Well, what was I to think?” said Drakken. “You disappeared weeks ago without telling me anything at all.”
“I had some things I needed to think about,” Shego said.
“Well, I'm glad you're back,” said Drakken. “Because with Kim Possible out of the way, there is nothing that can stop us from taking over the world.”
“Yeah, right, about that,” said Shego. “I got one little thing I wanted to say.”
“What?” said Drakken.
“You're little puppy, Dr. D.”
Drakken blinked. Suddenly he was sitting on his haunches, tongue sticking out of his mouth, panting happily.
Shego laughed. “How does it feel to be the one on the receiving end of mind control for once?”
Drakken barked and started chasing the space where his tail would have been if he had actually been a dog.
“Aren't you a precious little thing,” Shego cooed, standing up. “You know, it's weird, but… once I changed, once I became this powerful, I made a mental list of all the people I wanted to exact a little bit of bloody revenge on and you ended up nearly at the top. You might have thought of us as one happy little family, but, really, I never had much appreciation for family.”
Drakken put his head to one side and whined questioningly.
“Aw, don't worry,” said Shego. “I don't kick puppies.”
Drakken blinked again. His face slowly filled with terror. He scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall.
“Shego… what… what is… why are you naked?”
“Oh, you shouldn't worry about what I'm wearing,” said Shego. “You should worry about what you're wearing.”
Drakken looked down at his clothes and screamed. “Spiders! Maggots! Get them off! Oh, please, Shego, get them off!”
“Shego!”
Shego turned around sharply. “Kim! I… uh… how was your shower?”
Kim glanced at Drakken. He shook his head.
“Kim Possible! How is that… you're dead!”
Drakken's eyes unfocussed and he smiled vaguely.
“Shego, what. The Hell. Did you. Think. You were. Doing!“ Kim yelled.
Shego held up her hands. “Hey, it was just a little payback. We both know he got it coming to him.”
“We don't do that sort of thing, Shego!” Kim snarled.
“Looks like we're both doing it to him right now,” said Shego, pointing at the smiling Drakken.
“Only because you forced my hand, you,” said Kim.
“Well, I don't see why we shouldn't. We could turn him good just like that. Isn't that what you want?”
“No, Shego, it's not what I want,” said Kim. “I don't like creating mindless puppets. That's the sort of thing bad guys do.”
“Well, maybe I still am a bad guy, ever think of that?” said Shego. “Maybe I'm just sticking around long enough to get more powerful than you are and drive a stake through your heart!”
Kim relaxed. “You know you can't lie to me, Shego.” She chuckled. “For that matter, I don't think I could lie to you, either.”
“Yeah, well,” said Shego, running a hand through her hair, “I still think he got it coming to him.”
“We'll send him back to prison where he belongs,” said Kim. “And I'll make sure he won't remember us.”
“A little memory modifcation, Princess?” said Shego. “Slippery slope.”
“I'll take my chances,” said Kim. She held out her hand. “But to answer your first question, no I didn't have a nice shower. Because I was waiting for you.”
Surprise flashed across Shego's face. Then she smiled and took Kim's hand.
Miranda placed the High Priestess on the table.
“The important question, I think, is if they are a threat,” she said.
Dr. Director chuckled humourlessly. “I think it's very safe to say they are a threat.”
Miranda smiled faintly. “Let me rephrase that then. Who do you think they are a threat to?” she asked, playing the World.